Following a nearly $100 million hack last week, Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has secured $120 million in debt financing from FTX Trading.
The new funds will help Liquid Group and FTX Trading, the owner and operator of crypto exchange FTX, improve their balance sheets and contribute to the exchange’s licensing opportunities in key jurisdictions such as Japan and Singapore, according to a statement released on Thursday.
According to the announcement, the new funding will be used to generate new capital, increase liquidity, and improve Liquid’s customer service.
The new funding underpins both exchanges’ collaborative efforts to drive crypto adoption and provide better service to the ecosystem, according to FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
”This partnership with Liquid allows both organizations to strengthen and reinforce their belief that crypto regulation and knowing your customer is an important part of our industry’s future,” he said.
The funding comes just days after Liquid experienced a major hacking incident in which the exchange’s warm wallets were compromised last Thursday. Liquid hackers stole a total of $97 million in various cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), XRP, stablecoins, Bitcoin (BTC), and other tokens, according to calculations by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
Customers will not suffer any loss as a result of the incident, Liquid said in a Monday update, adding that user balances will not be affected. Liquid stated, “We continue to work diligently to gradually restore crypto deposit and withdrawal services.”
Incident update – 25th August 2021:
We want to reassure our users that they will not suffer any loss due to the incident that took place on the 19th of August. There will be no impact on user balances at Liquid. https://t.co/UaakRgafFV
— Liquid Global Official (@Liquid_Global) August 25, 2021As a major cryptocurrency exchange licensed under Japan’s Payment Services Act, Liquid has been in operation since 2014 and is operated by the Quoine Corporation, which is based in Japan.
A license under Singapore’s Payment Services Act has also been applied for by Liquid’s Singapore operating entity, Quoine Pte, which is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
It was the second major crypto heist to take place this month, following a massive exploit of the cross-chain protocol Poly Network on Aug. 10 that resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.
After a hacker returned the stolen funds to Poly Network on August 23, the company was able to regain control of $610 million in assets that were affected by the attack as of August 23.
